Bearing cup remover



1967 J. A. BAREs ETAL 3,

BEARING CUP REMOVER Filed April 8, 1966 TVs-=1 IN VEN TORS I Bare ff O b rn Aflamey United States Patent 3,358,353 BEARING CUP REMOVER Jack A. Bares, Moreland Hills, and Merritt Osborn, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignors to Milbar Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 541,255 5 Claims. (Cl. 29275) This invention relates generally to hand tools, and more particularly to beating cup removing tools.

Although there have been many proposals for bearing 7 cup removing tools, each of them has had certain disadvantages. The most common designs for such tools utilize biased levers wherein the levers are urged to their wide open position by the action of various types of springs. Although for certain applications these types of tools are satisfactory, there are certain situations where the lack of operator control of the opening of the jaws prevents their being used effectively. For example, when a passage through which the tool must pass has any shoulders located in front of the bearing cup, the springs will open the levers causing them to seat against such shoulders and prevent the passage of the tool to the bearing cup. Also, springs tend to lose their resiliency or become filled with dirt necessitating frequent maintenance. Other designs of this type of tool have utilized lever movement which has severely limited the size and shape passages in which they can be used.

The present invention contemplates a bearing cup removing tool, the opening and closing of which are both operator controlled. Further features of this tool include a design which distributes the force of the blows on the tool in such a way that the tool is urged to its open or bearing cup engaging position during the use of the tool. An additional feature of this tool includes a design which will permit it to be opened in a restricted passageway without the space occupied by the handles increasing.

Still other advantages of the invention, and the invention itself, will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings and forms a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the tool of this invention, with parts broken away for clarity, in its closed or access position being inserted to remove a hearing cup;

FIG. 2 is the tool in its opened or hearing cup engaging position and seated against a bearing cup; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the tool.

Briefly, this invention contemplates a pair of pivotally connected crossed levers each having a handle portion and a cup engaging end. The handles have curved surfaces at their ends and a striking cap is fitted over these surfaces and preferably is retained by the pin connecting the levers, which connection is through the handles near the striking surfaces. The levers are arranged so that when the handles are squeezed the cup engaging ends spread. The curved surfaces are arranged so that they will transmit force, from a blow to the cap, to the cup engaging ends in components which will tend to drive out the cup and tend to maintain the cup engaging ends seated against the cup.

More specifically, the bearing cup removal tool of this invention includes a pair of crossed levers or arms 10. The levers 10 have handle portions 12 terminating at one end in curved impact receiving surfaces 14. A shank portion 16 extends at an angle from each of the handle portions 12, which shank portions have formed at the ends thereof bearing cup engaging shoulders 18 and 20. These shoulders provide convenient engaging surfaces and 3,358,353 Patented Dec. 19, 1967 they also limit spreading movement during use, as will be explained presently. A hole 22 is bored in each of the handle portions 12 adjacent the impact receiving surfaces 14 and a pivot pin in the form of a rivet 24 extends through the holes 22 so that a loose fit is provided to prevent the rivet from carrying any of the load during the use of the tool.

A generally U-shaped impact receiving and transmitting cap 26 is provided which fits over the impact receiving surfaces 14 and surrounds a part of the handle portions 12 of the lever 10. The cap 26 is provided with a pair of slots 28 on opposite sides thereof which slots slidingly engage the opposite ends of the rivet 24. The heads of the rivet 24 retain the cap 26 and the rivet itseli in place. The undersurface 30 of the cap 26 engages the impact receiving surfaces 14 of the levers. With the U configuration "and the sliding engagement of the cap 26 with the rivet 24, the levers 10 are free to pivot about the rivet 24 and surface 30 of the cap will stay in contact with the impact receiving surfaces 14 irrespective of whether the tool is in its access position, as shown in FIG. 1, or its cup engaging position shown in FIG. 2.

Turning now to the operation of the device, in order to insert the device into an opening to gain access to a bearing cup, the handles 12 of the levers are spread which will cause the cup engaging ends to close together into their access position, as shown in FIG. 1. In this position the tool is inserted into the opening until one of the shoulders 18 or 20 on each lever is positioned opposite the edge of the bearing cup to be removed. The handle portions are then squeezed together which will cause the cup engaging ends of the levers to spread and one of the shoulders 18 or 20 will engage the edge of the bearing cup, as shown in FIG. 2. It will be observed that as the handles are squeezed, causing the distance between the cup engaging ends of the levers to increase, the distance across the handles decreases. Hence, any opening through which the handles pass when the tool is inserted will not cause a restriction in the use of the tool, since in this open position the handle spread is actually less than in the access position. As was explained previously, in any position the surface 30 will be in contact with surfaces 14. The cap is then struck a blow with a hammer or the like which will cause a force F1 on the levers. The impact receiving surfaces 14 are so positioned and the levers 10 are so constructed and arranged that this force F1 will be transmitted to the levers and to the bearing cup engaging ends as force vectors F2 and F3. The force vector F2 tends to drive the bearing cup out and is of a much greater magnitude than force vector F3, which tends to keep the cup engaging ends of the lever spread and in contact with the cup. The stepped configuration of the shoulders 18 and 20 prevents the levers from actually spreading which would cause binding against the wall surrounding the bearing cup or damage to this wall by scoring.

Having thus described the invention in an embodiment thereof, we are aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A hearing cup removing tool comprising, first and second levers, each of said levers including a shank portion having a bearing cup engaging end and a handle portion having an impact receiving surface at the opposite end, means pivotally interconnecting said levers, said levers being relatively movable about said pivot means between a bearing cup engaging position wherein the cup engaging ends are relatively widely spread and an access position wherein said cup engaging ends are relatively closely spread, said handle portions being configured and arranged to urge said cup engaging ends toward the bearing cup engaging position when the handle portions are squeezed together, an impact receiving and transmitting cap disposed over the impact receiving surfaces of said levers, and means to secure said cap to said levers to permit relative movement of said levers within said cap and maintain contact of said cap and the impact receiving surfaces of said levers.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said means pivotally interconnecting said levers includes rivet means extending through the handle portions at the free ends thereof.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said cap includes slot means slidably engaging said rivet means.

4. The combination of claim 1, wherein the shank portions extend at an angle from said handle portions and said impact receiving surfaces are positioned to engage UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,403,546 1/1922 COIrigan 29275 1,641,754 9/1927 Glover et al 29275 2,655,720 10/1953 Durham 29-275 X 2,851,769 9/1958 Johnson 29275 X MY RON C. KRUSE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A BEARING CUP REMOVING TOOL COMPRISING, FIRST AND SECOND LEVERS, EACH OF SAID LEVERS INCLUDING A SHANK PORTION HAVING A BEARING CUP ENGAGING END AND A HANDLE PORTION HAVING AN IMPACT RECEIVING SURFACE AT THE OPPOSITE ENDS, MEANS PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTING SAID LEVERS, SAID LEVERS BEING RELATIVELY MOVABLE ABOUT SAID PIVOT MEANS BETWEEN A BEARING CUP ENGAGING POSITION WHEREIN THE CUP ENGAGING ENDS ARE RELATIVELY WIDELY SPREAD AND AN ACCESS POSITION WHEREIN SAID CUP ENGAGING ENDS ARE RELATIVELY CLOSELY SPREAD, SAID HANDLE PORTIONS BEING CONFIGURED AND ARRANGED TO URGE SAID CUP ENGAGING ENDS TOWARD THE BEARING CUP ENGAGING POSITION WHEN THE HANDLE PORTIONS ARE SQUEEZED TOGETHER, AN IMPACT RECEIVING AND TRANSMITTING CAP DISPOSED OVER THE IMPACT RECEIVING SURFACES OF SAID LEVERS, AND MEANS TO SECURE SAID CAP TO SAID LEVERS TO PERMIT RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVERS WITHIN SAID CAP AND MAINTAIN CONTACT OF SAID CAP AND THE IMPACT RECEIVING SURFACES OF SAID LEVERS. 